I have one in mind. The Jackie Tatum 2014 Men's Open. Quite a few good players about Andy Chang level and up there. I had quite a bit of success there as a junior and the field is pretty decent. Nothing crazy, but not too bad either.

I was wondering why everyone kept saying 'play 4.5 and open' - as if 5.0 events didn't exist. And there are plenty of players at that level in So Cal. - I can't believe he can't find a tourney that won't have a decent field.

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5.0 tourneys definitely aren't as prevalent, nor what they used to be. Lots of times you'll see divisions up to 4.5 offered, then it skips to Open. Also, the times 5.0 divisions are offered, they're around 8 draws.

I think the trend started cause there were too many people sandbagging in the 5.0s to collect trophies, but, I could be wrong.

Give it a shot, you have little to lose, and it's your best chance you will ever have......
Don't think NorCal A's were any picnic in the late '70's either. Almost every top 30 NorCal A was a former D-1 singles player, and some guys like AndyLuchesi and PeterPearson made first rounds in the main draw's of ATP tourneys.
NickSaviano played at GoldenGatePark at least 10 days in '78.
TomBrown was one of my practice partners in '79.
WhitneyReed played there lots.
ArtLarsen was about the first guy to invite me onto his court in '76.

From a 3.5's perspective, who has seen both college D1 (D1s were massively better than the 4.5 guys) & 4.5 league & tournament play; I would say you are easily a 5.0 in my region, although I've never seen documented 5s play, that I know of

No, he needs the constant ego reinforcement from 3.0 thru 4.0 players so he can feel good about himself, because he really doesn't know where he stands in the tennis world of competitive tourney tennis.
Some SURE of his skills would not have to ask on a forum what his level really is.

No, he needs the constant ego reinforcement from 3.0 thru 4.0 players so he can feel good about himself, because he really doesn't know where he stands in the tennis world of competitive tourney tennis.
Some SURE of his skills would not have to ask on a forum what his level really is.

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Is there a forum where I could go get positive affirmation from 2.0 to 3.0 players? I could use an ego boost.

YES THERE IS !
Go find a tennis coach. Ask him to hit with you. Now say...." I would take lessons, but I think at my level, I"m really not quite good enough"......
What do you think the coach will say?

What? Still no tourneys in SoCal?
You can say you are 5.0 until you are blue in the face, but you KNOW you are not really 5.0 until you enter and compete competitively at the 4.5 or Open levels.
You keep citing the one example of your play against a UCLA prospect. But it was a year before he entered UCLA. At the time, he was not No.4 or 6.

Good for you! You WILL succeed in life, in just a few short years. You have your priorities set correct.
Me at 19? 1968. Surfing the CaliforniaProSurfingTour, no real structure, applied for CalWesternUniversity knowing I could get my money back if I dropped out, and still kept my Hall and Meal passes...
Bought a MontesaScorpion250 for future motocross, it's an off road dual purpose bike.
Was one of the 3 of the original big wave OceanBeachSF surfing crew, of the South end, Sloat. Shaping boards to play property tax and food.
I guess I was guilty of surfing 6+ days a week, oftentimes twice a day, and driving to the surf contests from mid Baja up to SanFrancisco.

Didn't really work out.
I needed about $600 a month to pay property tax and food, travel expenses, and spending money.
I think out of 8 events in 1968, I only made about $800, but I paid over $800 in entry fees alone. Entry fees for 1A was $35. For 2A the same. For 3A was $65 then. But I was 4A, so usually just over a hundred...:cry::cry:
Shaping surfboards netted me well over $1,000 that year, and glassing helped out to about double that. Lucky for me, the late winter months I worked at HowardMotor'sSuzuki, my main sponsor for 250 production class road racing, and they actually paid me $2.50 an hour.
I joined the USArmy in early '70.

What? Still no tourneys in SoCal?
You can say you are 5.0 until you are blue in the face, but you KNOW you are not really 5.0 until you enter and compete competitively at the 4.5 or Open levels.
You keep citing the one example of your play against a UCLA prospect. But it was a year before he entered UCLA. At the time, he was not No.4 or 6.

Here you go Mat. I looked an Universal Tennis which gives an exact rating with players spanning from open, junior, and professional tournaments. It is difficult to find any 4.5 players with ratings as they do not win many matches in the open tournaments. Many of the 5.0 players do not have ratings becuase they also struggle to compete at this level. My guess is the people I could find with Universal Tennis ratings are the cream of the crop at their level. I would expect these are the guys at the top or even some of the sandbaggers. You have a reliable rating because of all of the top level junior tournaments you played. With 68 high level tournament matches in the last year they can peg your level very well.

From looking at the data I would estimate NTRP 4.5 is below UT 9.2. NTRP 5.0 is between UT 9.2 and UT 11.45. NTRP 5.5 is between UT 11.45 and ?. That puts you comfortably in the 5.0 range.

It will be interesting to see what kind of a weak argement LeeD will come up with to counter actual objectve data. I sure he will have all the answers.

Here you go Mat. I looked an Universal Tennis which gives an exact rating with players spanning from open, junior, and professional tournaments. It is difficult to find any 4.5 players with ratings as they do not win many matches in the open tournaments. Many of the 5.0 players do not have ratings becuase they also struggle to compete at this level. My guess is the people I could find with Universal Tennis ratings are the cream of the crop at their level. I would expect these are the guys at the top or even some of the sandbaggers. You have a reliable rating because of all of the top level junior tournaments you played. With 68 high level tournament matches in the last year they can peg your level very well.

From looking at the data I would estimate NTRP 4.5 is below UT 9.2. NTRP 5.0 is between UT 9.2 and UT 11.45. NTRP 5.5 is between UT 11.45 and ?. That puts you comfortably in the 5.0 range.

It will be interesting to see what kind of a weak argement LeeD will come up with to counter actual objectve data. I sure he will have all the answers.

Interesting Site. I just registered for free. I'm not sure about the other guys on the list but at least one player you showed is really a 4.5. I was expecting a low rating but I surprisingly was rated 11.14 and I am a borderline 5.0.

Righto, PeeWee....
Why bother to play any matches, just go by your prevoius year matches, and match them up to your opponent's previous year matches...

Oh oh, maybe it don't work that way? maybe you gotta play a match to determine the results?

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I admit I don't understand your snide comment. The question put forth by the OP is what NTRP he is. I suggest comparing his results over the past year to the results of people with known NTRP ratings. NTRP ratings are determined by your past results.

Maximagq, I think you are up there 5.5+. You have a solid game all around, it seems, and you could even be on some low tour series if you really seriously chase after it(ie, getting some professional coaching and stuff). That's just my honest assessment.

In my area when you get to the 5.0 level you have to let the local tourneys be your guide. After college tennis you may be in a tennis black hole in finding partners your level.

There are seemingly more 5.5/6.0s that teach in my area than 5.0s. 5.0 sucks in terms of finding others your level. But the good news is you will slow down dramatically as you age and can then be a star 4.0 USTA player in your 40s.

In looking at the first set, one thing I noticed was that you were successful on few to no passing shots. Did have one good lob. Don't recall any drop shots. Seemed to double fault a bit. Liked the way you pounded to opponents backhand, which when you stayed there usually resulted in opponents error. Opponent seemed to be just a tad steadier in those long rallies.